Captain Marvel (2019) review

Since 2008, Marvel Studios has been the most dominant force behind the current state of the superhero genre as their bold plan to unite their various superheroes within one single franchise has more than proven to be a huge success with both critics and audiences. And yet, it legitimately could be argued that they’ve been a bit behind the times when it comes to having a diverse representation of characters in their film output. To be clear, the MCU has managed to give us a wide collection of excellent characters, especially when it comes to their female protagonists like Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Gamora, Daisy Johnson, and Peggy Carter, just to name a few. However, in the case of their latest outing, Captain Marvel, it is the first female-led entry of a franchise that is currently 21 films in. And for those who are wondering why it took so long for this to happen, it’s been noted that this was mainly due to the studio’s former CEO, Ike Perlmutter, who played a huge role in some of the franchise’s most controversial bits of ‘executive meddling’. This included everything from the lack of Black Widow merchandise for Avengers: Age of Ultron to all the creative conflicts that led to Edgar Wright backing out of Ant-Man. And if that wasn’t enough, he also reportedly wasn’t keen on doing a film adaptation of Black Panther. But, of course, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige managed to break away from Perlmutter and the Creative Committee in 2015. And because of this, one of Marvel’s most popular superheroines has finally been given the chance to grace her own solo film, with Oscar-winner Brie Larson taking on the role of Carol Danvers, arguably the most famous incarnation of the one that they call Captain Marvel (disclaimer: not to be confused with DC’s Captain Marvel, who will be making his own live-action debut next month in Shazam). For this installment, directorial duties go to the husband and wife duo of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, whose previous works include critically-acclaimed outings like 2006’s Half Nelson and 2015’s Mississippi Grind. And despite what certain parts of the internet may tell you, Captain Marvel is, what a surprise, yet another phenomenal installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that more than establishes its title character as the franchise’s newest badass heroine.

The year is 1995. On a seemingly average night, a mysterious woman crash-lands into a Blockbuster store in Los Angeles. The woman, who goes by the name of Vers (Brie Larson), claims to be a member of an elite intergalactic unit known as Starforce made up of members of an alien race known as the Kree. During their most recent mission, Starforce found themselves dealing with their longest-standing adversaries, Skrulls, who can shapeshift into any being that they come across. Vers ends up getting captured by a faction of Skrulls led by their commander, Talos (Ben Mendelsohn), who she learns is searching for a woman on Earth named Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Benning), who supposedly developed plans for a light-speed engine. After arriving on Earth, she ends up meeting Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson), an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division AKA SHIELD, and the two end up going on a journey together to try and prevent the Skrulls from acquiring Dr. Lawson’s plans. Along the way, Vers also starts to uncover more about her past life that she has long struggled to remember. Most specifically, she discovers that she was a former U.S. Air Force pilot named Carol Danvers who had supposedly died during a test run of Dr. Lawson’s engine in 1989. And as she soon finds out, the ramifications of what happened during this event end up providing her with a radically different outlook on the war between the Kree and the Skrulls.  

As alluded to in the plot synopsis, Captain Marvel goes the route of Captain America: The First Avenger by being a prequel that takes place before most of the other MCU films. In this instance, it’s set in the ’90s, and the film doesn’t disappoint when it comes to having a historically accurate representation of the era thanks to its rocking soundtrack and plenty of references to 90’s culture (e.g. the limitations of the technology of the time). As for the story, though, it’s admittedly one of the simpler affairs of the MCU. The best way to describe it is that it parallels the execution of the first Thor film by spending more time on Earth than in space. And while many have felt that the Thor films worked better when they weren’t on Earth, it’s ironically the opposite case with this film as it doesn’t really get going until after Carol arrives on Earth. Despite this, however, the film does manage to craft a solid mystery around Carol slowly but surely discovering her identity and how it ultimately factors into the long-standing conflict between the Kree and the Skrulls. This, along with the various lore-related references that the film makes (e.g. appearances of familiar objects, characters, etc.), creates an outcome that manages to keep in line with what we’ve seen in the other MCU films. And just like those other MCU films, Captain Marvel continues to feature everything that audiences have come to expect from this franchise, from its solid comedic dialogue to its excellent action sequences.    

Most importantly, though, Captain Marvel continues to maintain the MCU’s strong sense of emotional depth, which is well-exemplified by Brie Larson’s excellent performance in the title role. Larson perfectly conveys Carol’s tenacity and her rebellious attitude, which helps to make her transition into a full-blown superhero one of the most satisfying arcs to come from the MCU. The film also benefits greatly from her phenomenal camaraderie with Samuel L. Jackson, who gets what is easily his largest role in an MCU film to date as Nick Fury. And because of this film’s 90’s setting, it gives us a radically different take on the man who will end up becoming the leader of SHIELD, which Jackson (along with the aid of Marvel Studios’ continually impressive de-aging visual effects technology) handles brilliantly. Aside from them, you also have your reliable MCU supporting players, which notably include a few returnees from other installments of the franchise. Clark Gregg makes his first appearance as Agent Coulson in an MCU film since transitioning over to Agents of SHIELD while both Lee Pace and Djimon Hounsou reprise their roles of Ronan the Accuser and Korath, respectively, from Guardians of the Galaxy. However, it should be noted that their roles in the film are incredibly minor. Thankfully, there are also some great supporting players in here that have much larger roles in the plot, like newcomer Lashana Lynch as Carol’s best friend Maria Rambeau, Annette Benning as Dr. Lawson, and Jude Law as Starforce’s leader (and Carol’s mentor) Yon-Rogg. And as for the main antagonist, Skrull commander Talos, admittedly I can’t say much about his role in the film just yet as that would be delving into spoiler territory. It’s a well-layered role, though, and Ben Mendelsohn gets to be one of the rare instances of a more comedic Marvel Cinematic Universe villain.  

What’s this, another great MCU film to add to the collection? Yes, folks, the MCU continues to be one of the top film franchises in the industry as their 21^st installment is another well-rounded solo flick with all the usual fixings. I mean, at this point, it’s crazy to doubt the fact that Marvel Studios knows what they’re doing, but admittedly, this one did attract some skepticism prior to its release. If that wasn't enough, it also attracted some unwarranted backlash following a comment made by Brie Larson where she wished for better diversity in the media during this film’s press tour. And while it’s a reasonable desire backed by undisputable fact, this got misinterpreted as ‘sexist SJW BS’ by the same morons who considered Star Wars: The Last Jedi an utter offense to humanity. Modern era trolling in a nutshell, ladies and gentlemen. Thankfully, though, those ‘fans’ (and yes, the term ‘fans’ is used loosely in this case) were proven very much wrong. Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that this is ‘the best’ MCU film ever made. It does have an admittedly slow start and its plot is simpler in execution when compared to other installments of the franchise. But even with that in mind, this ‘back to basics’ approach isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it is still just as entertaining as any other MCU film. As a prequel to most of the other MCU films, the ways in which it sets up future events are generally handled quite well. And thanks in large part to Brie Larson’s excellent performance in the title role, Carol Danvers’ transformation into the franchise’s newest badass heroine, Captain Marvel, gives this film the same great emotional poignancy that the MCU is known for. Thus, while it might get a bit overshadowed by the upcoming epic that is Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel continues Marvel Studios’ stellar cinematic hot streak that has now been going on for a full decade.

Rating: 4.5/5

Ready Player One (2018) review

There’s no denying the fact that Steven Spielberg is one of the most legendary filmmakers in the history of cinema. Since his career first took off in the early 70’s, he’s given us an endless array of cinematic classics. He’s directed everything from iconic blockbusters like Jaws, E.T., and the Indiana Jones series to critically-acclaimed dramas like Schindler’s List, The Color Purple, and Saving Private Ryan. With that in mind, one could say that it’s only fitting that he’d be the one to direct a film that honors the current era of geekdom that he had a major hand in creating. And thus, here we are now with his latest directorial effort, Ready Player One, a film adaptation of author Ernest Cline’s best-selling novel of the same name from 2011. Upon its release in August of that year, this story of a teenager who embarks on an epic journey within the expansive world of a virtual reality game received solid reviews from critics and ended up becoming a New York Times bestseller. But in the years since, however, the novel has started to attract a steadily growing backlash from those who weren’t too keen on its over-reliance on pop cultural references. Nevertheless, seven years after its release, Cline’s novel now comes to the big screen under the direction of the one man who was undeniably one of Cline’s biggest influences. And because that man is Steven Spielberg, he manages to avoid making this film nothing but an endless barrage of Easter eggs (in this case, pun intended…) and instead gives us an entertaining sci-fi fantasy adventure that fully immerses us within its fantastical world.

In the year 2045, most of humanity finds itself living in slum-like communities due to everything from overpopulation to polluting. This includes teenager Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), who lives in ‘The Stacks’ (named for its collection of trailer homes stacked on top of each other) in Columbus, Ohio. Like everyone else, Wade escapes the gloom of reality by immersing himself within the virtual world of a computer simulation known as ‘the OASIS’. Within the OASIS, one can do anything, go anywhere, and be whoever they want to be from the world of pop culture. However, things get a little more interesting when OASIS users learn of a quest set up by the service’s creator, the late James Halliday (Mark Rylance). Whoever manages to complete this quest, made up of three challenges tied directly to Halliday’s favorite aspects of pop culture, and find the secret ‘Easter egg’ that Halliday has hidden within the OASIS will earn Halliday’s shares of his company along with complete control of the OASIS. Wade, who adopts the username of ‘Parzival’, soon finds himself performing well in Halliday’s challenges thanks to his extensive knowledge of Halliday’s life. However, this also begins to put him in direct competition with Innovative Online Industries (IOI), led by CEO Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), who is also seeking the Egg to take over the OASIS by any means necessary. Thus, with the future of the OASIS on the line, Wade teams up with several other Gunters (‘Egg Hunters’), including Samantha Cook AKA Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and his best friend Helen AKA Aech (Lena Waithe), to complete the challenges so that they can collect the Egg first.

Well, there’s really no way of beating around the bush on this one; one of the most definitive aspects of Ready Player One is its wide array of cameos and bits of dialogue that reference almost everything from the world of pop culture. There is so much of that in this film that it’ll legitimately require multiple viewings just to spot them all. At the same time, though, doing so would allow you to marvel at this film’s impressive visual effects. Obviously, everything within the OASIS is CGI, but thanks to the excellent work by the legendary Industrial Light and Magic, this film boasts some of the crispest CGI in recent memory. But fear not, as this film is much more than just a bunch of pretty visuals. Now, of course, this film does emphasize all the various cultural references that it has to offer; everything from Wade/Parzival riding a Back to the Future DeLorean in the OASIS to him using the ‘Holy Hand Grenade’ from Monty Python and the Holy Grail in combat. Despite this, though, Spielberg’s great direction makes it so that it ends up being more about the story and its characters than whatever figure from a popular video game or film happen to pop up on screen from time to time. After all, Spielberg, well-aware of how big of an impact he made on pop culture in the 80’s, purposefully decided to not directly use anything from the films that he directed so that this wouldn’t become an extreme case of vanity. And while the film does celebrate pop culture, it also offers some commentary on the instances where that love can go a bit too far. While Halliday’s challenges are primarily influenced by his favorite bits of media, Wade and company soon realize that another key influence behind them all are some of Halliday’s biggest regrets in life that occurred due to his overall lifestyle. This, along with several other aspects of the plot, helps to give the narrative a solid amount of heart which, given some of his previous films, is something that Spielberg is quite good at doing.

This entertaining adventure is further backed by its excellent ensemble cast. In the lead role of Wade/Parzival, Tye Sheridan exhibits solid charisma while also having some excellent chemistry with Olivia Cooke as Samantha/Art3mis. And while Wade is the main character of the story, Samantha is just as well-versed as he is when it comes to the OASIS and Halliday’s tendencies while also being the one who keeps him out of trouble with IOI, making her much more than just a typical ‘love interest’. Speaking of IOI, CEO Nolan Sorrento proves to be a solid villain thanks in large part due to Ben Mendelsohn being given plenty of time to interact with Wade and company; in other words, he isn’t as underused from a narrative perspective as he [sort of] was in Rogue One. Finally, closing out the film’s core group of leads is Lena Waithe in what will surely be a breakout role for her as Helen/Aech, who has a strong camaraderie with Sheridan while also playing a major part in some of the best moments in the film (i.e. a sequence that involves their group going through a recreation of a classic film that she hasn’t seen). And while these four characters do end up getting the most attention plot-wise, meaning that some of the supporting characters end up being a little underutilized as a result, there are still plenty of memorable supporting roles in this film aside from them. Mark Rylance (who, given his roles in both Bridge of Spies and The BFG, is quickly becoming a new Spielberg regular) makes the most out of his brief role as Halliday and his OASIS avatar Anorak as does Simon Pegg as Halliday’s former business partner, Ogden Morrow. And while the two of them end up being the least focused on of the main group, who are known as the ‘High Five’ due to their shared success at beating Halliday’s challenges, brothers Akihide/Sho (Philip Zhao) and Toshiro/Daito (Win Morisaki) do get to partake in some of the film’s most standout moments.

Now for the record, I am very much well-aware of some of the main reasons why Ernest Cline’s original novel has been getting a considerably substantial amount of backlash in the years since its release. The main reason why is simple, as some have taken issue with Ready Player One’s heavy emphasis on nostalgia and the various facets of pop culture that society has been treated to over the years, especially things that came from the 80’s. But because I’ll admit to not having read the novel beforehand, I didn’t really care about that going in. I mean, sure, in basic terms, this film is an amalgamation of numerous bits of pop culture; everything from The Iron Giant and Akira to Overwatch and Minecraft. But if there’s one person who could make all that work without going overboard on all the pop cultural references, it’d be the man who served as a direct influence on the original story itself, Steven Spielberg. Under the confident direction of one of the industry’s quintessential filmmakers, the film adaptation of Ready Player One is a delightful cinematic adventure that boasts some of the most stunning visuals in recent memory along with a fantastic ensemble cast headlined by the terrific lead duo of Tye Sheridan and Olivia Cooke along with memorable supporting turns from the likes of Lena Waithe and Ben Mendelsohn. In other words, under the eye of a ‘lesser director’, this probably could’ve turned out exactly like its critics thought it would be based on their overall thoughts on the book. But if there’s one thing that I hope we all can agree on, it is that Steven Spielberg is not ‘a lesser director’.

Rating: 5/5!

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) review

I think it’s safe to say that Star Wars is easily the most famous franchise in pop culture history. Ever since George Lucas released the first film, Episode IV: A New Hope, back in 1977, the series has gone on to become one of the biggest global phenomena of all-time. While not every film in the series was well-received by critics and, particularly, audiences (i.e. a certain ‘prequel’ trilogy), they have all been huge commercial hits at the box-office. And when Lucasfilm was purchased by Disney in 2012 for $4.05 billion, that effectively led to the announcement that we’d be getting more Star Wars films. We got our first taste of this new run of films last year with the one and only critically-acclaimed, $2 billion grossing Episode VII: The Force Awakens, which continued the story that originally concluded more than three decades earlier with Return of the Jedi. We’ll be getting the next installment of the main saga next December, but until then, this December sees the release of the first major ‘spin-off’ of the franchise (not counting the 2008 Clone Wars film), which will pave the way for new films set within the world of Star Wars that stray away from the usual proceedings of the saga films. The first of these ‘Star Wars ‘Stories’’, Rogue One, takes place in between the events of Episode III, Revenge of the Sith, and Episode IV, A New Hope. Under the direction of Gareth Edwards, director of the 2014 reboot of Godzilla, Rogue One focuses on the events that were listed in the opening crawl of A New Hope; how the Rebel Alliance managed to steal the plans to the Empire’s planet-destroying superweapon, the Death Star. What follows is another exciting adventure in the Star Wars series that also affirms the great potential of future spin-offs.

Being set between Episodes III and IV, Rogue One takes place in a time where the Jedi Order has been extinguished and the Empire is now reigning supreme across the galaxy. The Rebel Alliance, now the only major force left that can combat the Empire, learns that a defecting Empire pilot, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed), has been given a message to deliver to them from weapons designer Galen Erso (Mads Mikkelsen), who had been forced into working for the Empire, about the development of a superweapon. As a means of tracking down Galen, the Rebellion enlists the aid of his distant daughter, Jyn (Felicity Jones), who has been spending the last few years fending for herself after escaping from the Empire when they came for her dad. And thus, Jyn, along with Rebel Officer Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), Andor’s droid assistant and reprogrammed Empire enforcer droid K-2SO (Alan Tudyk), Rook, mercenary Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen), and blind Force-warrior Chirrut Ȋmwe (Donnie Yen), head off on a mission to find Galen and learn more about this new weapon. Of course, as they all find out, this weapon is the Death Star, a fully-operational battle station capable of destroying an entire planet in one fell swoop. Recognizing the magnitude of what the space station can do, and learning about a secret in regards to its design that was implemented by Galen himself, Jyn and company take on the risky venture of trying to find the plans for the Death Star, all while dealing with the sizable threat of the Empire’s forces, particularly Imperial Director Orson Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn) who was an old acquaintance of Jyn’s father.

While Rogue One does start off on a rather slow note, it immediately begins to pick up once the main characters are brought together. What follows is the usual exciting action of Star Wars combined with the stylings of a war film, a genre that the filmmakers have been alluding to frequently in interviews when it came to describing the film. And you can see that with this, particularly in its epic third act battle on the paradise-like planet of Scarif. In fact, I’d argue that Rogue One has the best action sequences to date in regards to Disney’s new line of Star Wars films. The whole third act, in general, is practically worth the admission price alone. And while I would still give the edge to The Force Awakens when it comes to the overall story and characters, Rogue One also deserves some major credit when it comes to its overall execution. For being a ‘Star Wars prequel’ (stay with me, folks…), it does a much more conservative job of serving as that. Sure, there are references to A New Hope here and there but they’re definitely subtler in execution compared to the references made in the prequel trilogy. And, of course, the film deserves much credit for its effective recreation of the world of Star Wars (as seen in the original trilogy) through its production design. From using the appropriate Empire/Rebellion era outfits to the practically seamless replication of the Rebel Base on Yavin IV, you’d swear that this film was made around the exact same time as A New Hope.

Now given the fact that this does take place before A New Hope, Rogue One has the challenge of dealing with the potential predictability of its plot. I promise that I’m not going to spoil anything that happens in this film but let’s just say that if you’ve at least seen A New Hope, you probably have a good idea about how this all ends. But, even with that in mind, the film does succeed in establishing a solid amount of emotional depth through these characters. I wouldn’t say that it’s ‘as strong’ as Force Awakens in that department but it’s still solid. There were some legitimately effective emotional moments in this film and you really do see the commitment that the ‘Rogue One’ crew have when it comes to completing their mission. And part of this solid characterization does come courtesy of the excellent ensemble cast. As Jyn, Felicity Jones brings a great combination of the spunk that Daisy Ridley brought to the role of Rey and the roguish nature of Han Solo to the role, resulting in her becoming yet another great Star Wars lead heroine. She’s matched well with Diego Luna who, as Cassian, gets a solid arc in which we see how he contrasts with Jyn as a loyal soldier to the Rebellion. The rest of the film’s diverse cast is excellent as well, with major standouts including legendary Hong Kong action star Donnie Yen as the badass warrior Chirrut and Alan Tudyk, who provides the vocal/mo-cap performance for K-2SO, easily the most sarcastic droid that Star Wars has ever seen. And of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the much talked about return of Darth Vader. He’s not in the film that much (probably about four minutes or so) but, without giving anything away, I assure you that we can now forget about the time when he once said that he didn’t like sand… or the time he screamed “NOOOOO!!!!!” after learning about the death of his wife.

I was excited by the announcement of Star Wars spin-offs because it meant that this would lead to new possibilities in terms of stories within the massive world of Star Wars. And Rogue One starts this new line of spin-offs on a high note. Obviously, there’s been a lot of talk about the film having to go through reshoots, apparently to primarily fix the ending. But, ultimately, this didn’t negatively affect the film in any way. Thanks to the solid direction of Gareth Edwards, Rogue One is a well-matched mix of the usual Star Wars escapades with the war film esque nature of its plot. It also manages to overcome its status as being a film set in-between Episodes III and IV with its solid handling of teases, cameos, and fan-service. Going into this film, anyone who’s at least seen Episode IV could probably guess the way in which this film’s story ends. Though, to the film’s credit, it does manage to elicit a solid amount of emotional depth, especially considering this story’s place in the overall Star Wars lore. All that, as well as a solid cast and incredible action sequences, shows that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will no doubt pave the way for more great spin-offs in a galaxy far, far away. In short, for a film that is the most dreaded word amongst Star Wars fans, a ‘prequel’, it ends up being the best Star Wars prequel to date, though obviously for most Star Wars fans that is not saying much.

Rating: 4.5/5